NHS optical voucher - contact lenses

thelawnet

My daughter is in full-time education and under 18 and is therefore entitled to NHS-funded eye test and optical.

She has had an eye test at vision express and her eyesight has got worse by -0.5. She is looking to get contact lenses.

Can someone explain the NHS entitlement in respect of this and what Vision Express would tend to do with her voucher? 

They are trying to charge £40 for 30 pairs disposable lenses, although they have not yet done so - so far they have given her a number of samples, and there has been no sale as yet - they are going back and forwards with 'fit check' appointments.

I am slightly confused if the NHS voucher entitles you to anything towards lenses.

It says

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/nhs-voucher-values-for-glasses-and-lenses/

Voucher A: £41.70

Glasses with single vision lenses:

• with a spherical power of no more than 6 dioptres and a cylindrical power of no more than 2 dioptres  -> she fits in this category.

Voucher J: £60.75

A voucher for contact lenses following a prescription issued by an NHS trust or NHS foundation trust.

I assume that Vision Express is not an NHS trust for this purpose, and lenses are not glasses....

Undervalued

thelawnet said:

My daughter is in full-time education and under 18 and is therefore entitled to NHS-funded eye test and optical.

She has had an eye test at vision express and her eyesight has got worse by -0.5. She is looking to get contact lenses.

Can someone explain the NHS entitlement in respect of this and what Vision Express would tend to do with her voucher? 

They are trying to charge £40 for 30 pairs disposable lenses, although they have not yet done so - so far they have given her a number of samples, and there has been no sale as yet - they are going back and forwards with 'fit check' appointments.

I am slightly confused if the NHS voucher entitles you to anything towards lenses.

It says

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/nhs-voucher-values-for-glasses-and-lenses/

Voucher A: £41.70

Glasses with single vision lenses:

• with a spherical power of no more than 6 dioptres and a cylindrical power of no more than 2 dioptres  -> she fits in this category.

Voucher J: £60.75

A voucher for contact lenses following a prescription issued by an NHS trust or NHS foundation trust.

I assume that Vision Express is not an NHS trust for this purpose, and lenses are not glasses....

My understanding is that there would need to be a medical need for contact lenses (as opposed to wearing glasses) rather than just a personal cosmetic preference, hence a doctor's prescription rather than an optometrist's is required.

-0.5 is not a huge change but I suppose if she was already significantly short sighted, the extra might just tip the balance into the realms of a "complex" prescription?

Just to add, although I have a good understanding of optical theory I am not an optometrist.